Turkish businessman Vural Ak has purchased an 11-year lease on the Istanbul Park race circuit, and will press Bernie Ecclestone to revive the Turkish Grand Prix when the Formula One CEO is in Istanbul next week for the FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting.

Ak has already had preliminary talks with Formula One, and is looking to revive the event as early as next year. He believes it can be slotted into the calendar in either June or August.

The 3.32-mile circuit is located at Akfirat, to the east of the national capital on the Asian side of the Bosporus. It was built during 2004 to a Hermann Tilke design, at a cost of $250 million (US) invested by national and local government agencies. The venue staged the inaugural Turkish Grand Prix the following year. Although Bernie Ecclestone had taken over the management rights early in 2007, the fixture was dropped from the calendar after last year's race, following a steady decline in spectator numbers.

Ak is the chairman of Intercity Rent-a-Car, Turkey's largest car rental company, which is part-owned by the Mitsubishi Corporation. He has agreed to pay the circuit operator, Formula Istanbul Yatirim AS, an annual rent of $9 million, according to reports in Istanbul. In total, FIYAS will receive $125 million in fees over the period of the lease.

“Mr Ecclestone is looking at a seven-year contract," Ak told the media. "He told me he wanted $26 million to put on the race [in the first year], but said he was willing to make a little sacrifice from that figure. I will put in $5 million out of my own pocket – I am not thinking in terms of making a lot of money here. The government will contribute $13.5 million. Therefore we will be stuck somewhere in the middle.

“We are hoping to have a positive decision from Mr Ecclestone next week. I have guaranteed him a minimum 50,000 spectators on race day, but I expect about 80,000.

“As well as Formula 1, we will use the circuit for a round of the DTM series, as in the past, and we are planning many other events, including a new Turkish series. We think motorsport events at Istanbul Park will bring tens of thousands of people.”

Istanbul Park, which can accommodate 155,000 spectators, has been used for races in the DTM and the Le Mans Series, as well as MotoGP. In May this year, it staged a round of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship for the first time.

Hungaroring confirms deal with F1

The president of the Hungaroring road circuit near Budapest, Peter Gerstl has confirmed that he finalized a new agreement with Formula One CEO Bernie Ecclestone over the Abu Dhabi weekend, and that a five-year contract extension will take the fixture through 2021.

Gerstl has acted swiftly, in view of Ecclestone's recent remarks to the effect that, in the near future, he intended to cull two or three more Grands Prix in Europe. The deal has been done four years before the expiry of the current contract.

Gerstl has not revealed the terms of the contract extension, but

noted, "The government is fully behind the Hungaroring, because the Grand Prix continues to generate considerable revenue for Budapest and Hungary as a whole from year to year."

He added that the entire circuit is to be resurfaced in the New Year and revealed that Ecclestone had requested that more overtaking points are built into it. This has been a constant criticism of the venue, which traverses a valley near the village of Mogyoród, ever since the Hungarian state built it in 1986, when it became the first Formula 1 race behind what was then known as the Iron Curtain.

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